“I was pretty certain that I wasn’t right for Spencer,” Troian told Cosmo. “In my heart, I felt in line with her, but in the book, she was a blonde-haired, green-eyed, all-American girl next door. There was no way they were going to cast me. The scene I auditioned with was her sneaking out of dinner with her family to smoke a cigarette with her sister’s fiancé, which ended up not being in the pilot because it was too risqué!”

Showrunner Marlene King said, “Troian came in with no makeup on and delivered a great performance. We were like, ‘You’ve gotta come in and own it as a Pretty Little Liar.’ She came back with her hair and makeup done, very stylish, with this tuxedo jacket on, and tight pants, and does this scene. She turns around, and drops the jacket, and is wearing a scoop shirt that goes all the way down to the small of her back, and whips out the cigarette. It was amazing. I was like, This woman knows who Spencer Hastings is.”